


Background

by photography_nerd13



Series: Glee/ Teen Wolf Crossover [1]
Category: Glee, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Burns, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Minor Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 13:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13928319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/photography_nerd13/pseuds/photography_nerd13
Summary: Detailed background story snippets for my Teen Wolf/ Glee crossover (Glee Wolf - working title). More to be added as the story demands or as my brain decides it wants something explained that really doesn't fit the pace of the main story.Warning: Chapter 3 describes the Hale Fire. Almost all the bad tags are because of that chapter. Please take care of yourself and don't read it if it will cause you distress.





	1. How Hales Came to the Midwest

Talia, the eldest of the Hale siblings, had been raised from birth to be the Alpha of the next generation. In fact, Annabelle and Oliver Hale were not even planning on having more children after Talia was born, as it had taken them until Annabelle was approaching 30 before she was able to have even one child. The entire extended family was shocked when Annabelle returned from a doctor’s appointment with an ultrasound of a healthy 20-week fetus. She never confirmed it, but the rumor was that her birth control had failed. Elizabeth was born human; she was not exactly expected, so it was no surprise her parents were perhaps less than doting to this fragile new child in their house. Not even two months later, Annabelle returned home from a check-up with a pamphlet for her husband on vasectomies, and a declaration that they were not having sex again until he got one.

If Elizabeth was ignored due to the surprise and her humanity, Peter was downright shunned. He was a wolf, yes, but he was almost twelve years younger than the Alpha-to-be. Talia was left with babysitting duty frequently, and with over a decade of coaching on how to be an alpha under her belt, she was hardly a playful sibling. Peter and Elizabeth (only he was allowed to call her Lizzie) were so close that many thought they were twins; they only missed being in the same grade by a couple of months, after all. The youngest Hales were rarely allowed into pack meetings, and rarely involved in any sort of diplomatic occurrence with other packs. The only times they were, was when those packs had children of a similar age. One such pack was a pack from Ohio, run by Charles and Hannah Wakefield. They were both alphas, from neighboring packs, who had joined their packs when they married. As such, they had one of the largest packs in the Midwest. Their heir, Charles Junior, was only a couple of years older than Elizabeth, and was sent to play with them when Hannah came to visit Annabelle to discuss one of their pack members possibly going to a college about an hour away from Beacon Hills. At age 10, Charles Junior was a bit awkward, and didn’t particularly want to play with an eight year old and a seven year old. He found them playing board games, and quickly changed his mind.

The three children didn’t meet again in California, but Elizabeth remembered that day when she was researching colleges with her brother. Peter had his heart set on Chicago, and there weren’t even any packs to negotiate with to allow him onto their territory. Elizabeth wanted to go to Ohio. The biggest draw to her was the memory of Charles Junior not changing his behavior towards her at all once he realized she was a human. Ever since their parents had passed the mantle to Talia, and retired, Elizabeth had been sidelined and ignored more and more. Some days, she honestly thought her sister forgot her existence. It wasn’t a difficult decision for either of them to go to college in an entirely different part of the country. 

Lizzie loved her college. She loved the city of Columbus. It wasn’t a big city by any means, but it was far larger than Beacon Hills, and she actually was able to interact with a pack that functioned relatively well. She realized that the Wakefields were not the only family in the pack – there were two other families as well, and all three families included some cousins who were human pack members. Lizzie was practically a member of the pack herself by the end of her first semester. When Peter came to stay with her for Christmas, as they had both opted out of going home, he was also welcomed into the pack as an ally.

Neither Hale knew just how important these friendships would be in the years to come.


	2. Surviving the Loss of Your Packmate

“Talia, I don’t want to argue any more with you. I sat the bar already, I’m not leaving now. I wouldn’t be able to take the bar there until February, and I’d lose all the money I’ve already invested taking it here.” Peter paced the living room of the Hummel household, which was disturbingly quiet. “No, I’m not changing my mind. Kurt needs me here.” He growled at her response, and hung up on her. He always hated when his sister tried to use her alpha-voice on him. She should know by now that it didn’t work over the phone. He was staying to help his nephew cope with the severed pack bond, end of story. If Talia wasn’t going to step up and be a good alpha, he would damn well find one to help the boy. 

Not many werewolves are raised with the knowledge that a wolf can live away from their alpha. It hardly promotes pack unity to state that, however, so the alphas disregard the knowledge. Independent betas have learned it, however, and ensured the information was passed down. Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean being completely separate from a pack; some betas can maintain their sanity and their control with a single pack bond and no alpha. Some can only maintain their shift with an alpha and other pack members around on a regular basis. It all depended on the strength of the wolf and the strength of their anchor. Kurt had never had a strong bond with Talia. She had flown in from California when he was six months old, and had just shifted claws for the first time. She bit him, to officially join him to the Hale pack. She then immediately left, claiming she was too busy to be away from work too long. The pack bond still existed, fragile though it may be. Kurt’s bonds with his parents and Peter were far stronger in comparison. Peter had a similarly fragile bond with his alpha, and a strong bond with his nephew. He had the barest of bonds with his other relatives, though. He hadn’t been around them in almost eight years, so it wasn’t exactly hard for those bonds to wither away. Now that Lizzie was gone (and it took nearly all of Peter’s will not to break down every time that thought crossed his mind), Kurt’s control was waning. He seemed to stop wanting to even put in effort to remain human. In his grief, the boy had even managed a full shift. Peter carefully neglected to tell Talia – he had no doubt she would find some way to sweep him out of Ohio and welcome him back to Beacon Hills like she’d never been the reason they left in the first place. 

Peter had spoken with Charles Junior the day after Kurt’s first full shift. The news was hardly what Peter wanted, but he understood the man’s position. Rules of diplomacy between packs who were formal allies stated that any pack member wanting to join the allied pack must get permission from their current alpha before the other alpha would accept them formally. Talia may have a small pack, but her territory shared borders with areas of very popular and prestigious colleges. If she were to sever their treaty, she could very well refuse to allow any of his pack members to reside in the majority of California, with no questions asked. Charles Junior could, however, name them pack- adjacent; it was a more modern term that was used to bring people unofficially into another pack; Peter and Kurt would have a standing invitation to any and all pack meetings and events, but could not be formally made members of the pack. They would not be able to make any pack bonds with the pack, either. 

The friendship, and being around werewolves his own age, made a huge impact on Kurt. He shifted seamlessly between his three shapes, now, and while he would always mourn his mother, he was now able to move past his grief and start focusing on the future again. He joined Charles’ human son, Jeff, in vocal and dance lessons. He laughed and smiled again, when his family were convinced they wouldn’t for a long time. With Kurt’s new ability to shift into an actual wolf, Burt realized that he needed to ensure Kurt was raised with an actual knowledge of the culture of that side of his family. Burt and Peter entered into, essentially, a co-parenting arrangement. Peter had Kurt on weekends and full moons, and Burt had his son the rest of the week. Peter would take his nephew basically wherever he wanted: his job in corporate law was going exceedingly well. Some weekends, all Kurt wanted to do was run around in the woods. Others, he wanted to dress up and go out for fancy tea and sandwiches. Peter also finished teaching Kurt French. It was something that Lizzie had begun when he was six, slowly teaching him grammar and vocabulary as a game. As Peter was fluent in French as well, he could easily pick up where his sister left off. He also tried to start teaching Kurt Latin, as that would be helpful in many professional fields, but Kurt was insistent he didn’t want to learn – after all, he wanted to be on Broadway. “A performer has no need to learn Latin,” he protested. “I’d rather get extra vocal lessons.” Peter conceded the argument, not wanting to ruin his nephew’s dreams of the big stage. 

One day in June, Peter picked up his apartment phone without checking the caller ID. He regretted it instantly. “Hello Peter.”

“Talia,” he drawled. “It’s been a while.” 

There was an awkward silence. “I know. How old is Kurt, now? 10?”

He held back a growl. “He just turned 12, sister dear. He’s only two years older than Cora. What do you want?”

She sighed. “Mom wants to see you and Kurt. As you said, it’s been a while. I’m hosting a family reunion for the full moon next month. I’d like to have you both here.” 

Peter pinched his nose. “Why, exactly? It’s not like you’ve ever done more than call around Christmas time and send generic gift cards for Kurt. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he didn’t recognize any of you. You certainly wouldn’t recognize him.” 

“Maddie is human,” she finally confessed after a long silence. “I don’t really know what to do with her.” 

Peter sighed. That poor girl. “Talia, you just love her. That’s all she wants. That’s it. Just love her exactly the same you do your other children.” He smirked to himself. “At least, if you can.” 

Talia huffed. “Will you come or not?” 

“Are you going to pay for a hotel room, at the very least? Unless you’ve put a massive extension on the house, there’s not going to be enough room for all of us to stay with you.” 

“Fine. I’ll make a reservation over in Beacon Heights. That’s the closest hotel that isn’t a health hazard.”

“Excellent. We’ll see you next month, then.”


	3. The Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please beware the tags above. This chapter describes the Hale Fire, which includes deaths of adults and children, along with serious injuries to both. The past non-con tag is for the past statutory rape of a character, which is referenced twice but not described in any detail.

Kate Argent had been planning this day for months. Granted, she wasn’t exactly suffering while she was gathering information from Derek, pretending to be in love with him, but she would still be glad when this was all over. Her contacts with the chemistry teacher had been equally fruitful – he was able to provide her with the wolfsbane-laced Fentanyl gas, and load it into her gas canister bombs. The gas could knock out a werewolf within a minute, and they’d stay out for about 30 minutes. She couldn’t wait to start distributing the recipe to her contacts across the states.   
Thanks to Derek’s information, all of his family’s escape tunnels had been blocked. Her SUV was loaded with several gallons of gasoline mixed with wolfsbane powder. She was taking no chances this time. There would be no survivors.   
Finally, the time came for her to pull the trigger on her gas bombs. She waited two minutes, watching the doors and windows. No one came running out. She started her watch timer for 20 minutes. She wasn’t taking any chances of still being in the house when they started waking up. The huntress practically waltzed into the house, saturating the carpet in the front room, and opening the basement door to completely coat the steps as well as the unconscious bodies inside. She also took the time to shut off the water valve in the utility closet, and cut the phone lines. She made her way to the second floor, leaving a trail of gasoline behind her, and tossed the last of her gasoline onto the man and child who appeared to have been reading a bedtime story. She sneered at the picture they made. Kate walked back down stairs, making sure the water was off and the phones useless. She waited for her watch to beep out the 20 minute warning, then lit the long match she’d brought, placing it just inside a puddle of gasoline. It would burn for three minutes while she exited the house. By the time the wolves woke up, their exits should be blocked. She circled the house with a line of mountain ash, finishing with it just as the flames began to dance through the house. She heard the first shouts of confusion, then screams of terror. Kate laughed. These animals would all die tonight.   
Still laughing, the screams and howls echoing in her ears, Kate took off in her car, never realizing that she hadn’t counted properly, and that two of the family members weren’t even in the house. 

The Hummels had decided to take a different flight to California than Peter; Burt hadn’t wanted Kurt to miss any more of his vocal lessons than he had to for a family he barely knew. Their flight had been delayed, and instead of having time to check into the hotel before dinner, they had to go straight to the Hale house. Shortly after dinner, Burt took his son over to the hotel to check in. They dropped their bags off, and grudgingly went back out to have “family time” with the rest of the pack.   
Kurt smelled the smoke a mile away. “Somethings on fire,” his voice had an edge of panic. “Dad, somethings burning.”  
Burt sped up as much as he dared on the narrow back road. A dark SUV came barreling towards them; the mechanic noticed that it wasn’t a model the Hales had, nor was the woman driving someone he recognized. All suspicion fled his mind when he turned the last corner to see the Hale house engulfed with flames. The car screeched to a stop, both of them jumping out. Burt fumbled for the cellphone his son had insisted on. “Oh god they’re all still inside,” he blurted out just as the operator picked up.   
“Sir? What’s your emergency?”  
“The house is on fire, they’re all still inside! Oh god. It’s the Hale house- 35 Parkview Drive, the last house on the road. Everyone’s still inside, you have to get here quick.” He barely registered the operator telling him that she was dispatching the fire department now, and asking him how many people were in the house. “Fourteen. No- twelve. I don’t think Derek and Laura were home yet.” Kurt was pressed up against his side, whimpering. Suddenly, the boy shot off towards the house, running into an invisible barrier. Burt chased him, trying to pull him away with one hand, not realizing when his own foot crossed the line of mountain ash and broke it. Kurt wrenched his arm away from his father. “KURT!” he dropped the phone, trying to stop his son from entering the house. He was too late.   
Kurt burst through the front door into a wall of fire. Coughing, he covered his face as best as he could with his shirt. Behind him, he saw a beam drop from the ceiling, blocking the front door where he could see his father. He couldn’t focus on his father’s voice. All he could focus on was the faint heart beats he heard from outside. There were only two of them, but they were close together. Kurt ignored the heat surrounding him, ignored the spits of fire that landed on his clothes and skin. He traced the heartbeats to the first floor bathroom, passing the door to the basement that was on fire, and the stairs to the second floor that were nearly ash. He barely registered the pain of his palm being seared on the door knob as he threw it open. The floor was covered in drywall – the ceiling had come down already here. They were underneath it all. Kurt didn’t realize as he pulled the burning rubble off the pile that his hands were turning red, blistering from the heat and flames, and he didn’t realize that his coughing had gotten worse. He didn’t stop until he reached a blanket. He ripped it off, seeing someone who he didn’t recognize, curled in a ball. What he could see of the man’s face was red and warped; some of his hair was gone, and his clothes were in tatters, red and wet looking skin clearly visible underneath. Kurt fights against the gloved hands that are suddenly there, pulling him away from the man. He screams, knowing that this man is pack, is all that remains of his pack. He doesn’t realize how weak he is until he tries to shift, and is unable to. The firefighter bodily carries him from the house, placing him on a stretcher waiting just outside the flames. He tries to get back off the stretcher until he sees two other firefighters carrying the man with them, along with a smaller figure. Kurt finally stops struggling, but is confused when someone else is suddenly there, covering his face with an oxygen mask. Its then he realizes that he never stopped coughing. He looks down at his hands and thinks they should probably hurt, considering how red and blistered they appear. His clothes are covered in soot marks and burn marks. He blinks in confusion at his father, who seems to be crying. The EMT is saying something, now, but he can’t make it out. He’s too focused on the heartbeats to hear anything else. He doesn’t understand, but they’re loading the two people he found in the fire into ambulances, and then they’re loading him into one too, his father prevented from getting in with him. Kurt realizes just how fuzzy the world looks when he’s staring at the roof of the ambulance. He assumes the sirens are blaring, but he really doesn’t know. The edges of his vision start going black; he shut his eyes and let himself drift away. 

Kurt’s next clear memory is waking up in a hospital bed. He has a little tube in his nose (he knows it has a fancy name, but he can’t remember it), and his hands are bandaged. His vision is no longer fuzzy, and his hearing is back to normal. No one is in the room with him, but he can hear his father in the hallway. He’s talking to someone, but he can’t find it in himself to eavesdrop right now. Since his hands are bandaged, yesterday (was it yesterday? Maybe it was longer. It seems like it’s so far away) must not have been a terrible nightmare. He had no idea who he’d pulled from the fire, but he had looked nothing like his uncle. Peter was dead. Talia was dead. The grandparents he barely knew were dead. Little baby human Maddie was dead. He was broken from his thoughts by his father entering the room.   
“Hey buddy. How’s your pain?”  
He blinked at his father. What pain? He was too numb to feel anything. He just shrugged. “Who-?” he coughed, unable to finish his sentence.   
Burt squeezed his wrist, just above the bandages. Tears welled up in his already red eyes. “Laura and Derek weren’t home. Derek’s practice was running late, and then they decided to get takeout since they’d missed dinner. They’re safe.” He took a deep breath. “The doctors – do you remember what you did? Running into the house?”  
He nodded. “Who-“ He coughed yet again, gratefully sipping the water his father held to his mouth. “Who did I find?”  
“Peter. He was with Maddie in the bathroom, in the tub.”  
Kurt frowned. “Why?”  
“The sheriff said that he was probably trying to soak them in water to get them through the flames and out of the house. It’s a common thing they’re taught around here in case of forest fires – find a body of water and stay in there, or use it to protect yourself from the heat.”   
“Are they going to be okay?”   
“Peter is still – he’s going to be in the ICU for a while. He’s got burns over 80% of his body. I don’t really understand all the medical stuff they were telling me. But he still has a chance of pulling through.”  
His heart sunk. “Dad, what about Maddie?”  
He shook his head. “She was gone before they even got to the hospital. She inhaled too much smoke. Peter protected her from being burned, but he couldn’t stop the smoke.” He blinked away tears. You have pretty severe burns too, son. And they’re not healing like they normally do.”   
Kurt blinked at that information. “Wolfs bane.” He said, choking again ask he hacked up the soot from his lungs. “They must have put wolfs bane in the fire somehow, to stop us from healing.” It was this that made it sink in for Kurt. This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t some tragic mistake. This was murder. They had targeted an entire pack. Kurt had to protect what little of it remained.   
When Kurt was wheeled into the ICU later that day to see his uncle, he still didn’t recognize him. The burns had transformed his face, and between the bandages and the wounds, he didn’t look anything like his uncle. His scent was still there, though buried beneath antiseptic and medications and the stench of infection. This scent, familiar and welcoming, was what made Kurt finally break down. His life would never be the same after this. Peter may never teach him how to achieve the full shift like they’d talked about, may never take him shopping again, may never talk about crushes on boys again, may never even smile at him again. It was like losing his mother all over again, but somehow worse. Later, he would realize it was worse because now he was aware of just how much of the rest of his life he would spend missing his family.   
Kurt cried himself to sleep that night. It would become a regular pattern over the next several months, but this strengthened his resolve to never let this happen to his family again. 

Peter had sustained fourth degree burns to his shoulders and his back; third degree burns covered part of his face, the rest of his back, and his arms, and his hands. His legs suffered second degree burns- they had been mostly protected by his clothing, thankfully. All together, he had nearly 50% of his body covered in third degree burns, and an additional 36% covered in second degree burns. His prognosis, initially, wasn’t great. He had gone into shock in route to the hospital; they had spent most of the night and the following day making sure he didn’t die from that. This was far outside the scope that Beacon Hills Memorial was used to dealing with; the trauma doctors had been trained in these situations, but were by no means experts in this sort of extreme treatment. They called in a specialist from San Francisco to review Peter’s treatment and to also evaluate Kurt’s prognosis. He had suffered third degree burns on the palms of his hands from his attempts to go through the fire and find his family. He had second and first degree burns on his arms and torso, but had escaped any major damage beyond his hands.   
The specialist, a Doctor Pam Marshall, sat down what remained of the Hale pack, along with Michael Sheridan, the hospital administrator. “I understand there’s a bit of a legal issue with power of attorney for Mr. Hale.” Mr. Sheridan began. Burt interrupted.   
“There shouldn’t be later today. I got in touch with his office this morning. They’re faxing over his living will and power of attorney information as soon as they can.”   
Laura snorted. “Please. Like that actually exists. There’s no way he named you as his power of attorney. He’s my – not yours.”   
Burt was very glad that he had decided not to bring Kurt into this meeting. “Laura, he’s been living in Ohio with us since Lizzie died. When was the last time you even spoke to him before this weekend? Why are you convinced that you know what he would have wanted?”  
Mr. Sheridan cleared his throat. “Ms. Hale, once we get the paperwork from Mr. Hale’s attorney, you’ll have to accept whatever it says – and respect you uncle’s wishes. Obviously, until we get that paperwork, we’re limited in what we can legally do beyond immediate life-saving measures. Dr. Marshall wanted to speak with you about options.”  
The doctor nodded, looking at them. “Peter is in bad shape. Due to the shock that he suffered, he’s been put in a medically induced coma for the time being. This will only be temporary, until we can get him more stable. Until he’s stable, we don’t want him waking up and aggravating his wounds any further. Due to the extensive tissue damage, we’re going to have to wait to perform any skin grafts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes us weeks to get him to a point where we can take him off the sedation. My primary concern right now is the damage to his face and to his back. The fourth degree burns went to the shoulder blades; until we have him stable to the point of being able to bring him out of the coma, we will have no idea how much nerve damage he’s sustained. He’s fortunate that he doesn’t have much deep tissue damage near the spine. I’m very concerned about his face. There isn’t much soft tissue there, which is why it is so very difficult to heal. He’s going to have severe scarring on the left side of his face, and he may lose some or all of the vision in that eye due to nerve damage. I don’t foresee him regaining all of the use of his hands, either. The next biggest concern is going to be infections. His burns will be extremely susceptible to infection. That is the reason he’s in isolation in the ICU right now. We cannot risk an infection at this stage. I can almost guarantee you that he will get an infection at some point- there’s just too much risk to avoid it forever. When it occurs in his healing process will determine how dangerous that infection will be. I’ve got to warn you – whatever your hopes are, please don’t make them too high. Peter is not going to ever be back to 100%. If he pulls through this with no major complications, he’s going to have massive scar tissue. That scar tissue will not react like the rest of his skin. He is going to need a lot of help for many years to come.”  
Burt nodded gravely. Considering the fact that Kurt’s hands weren’t healing yet, he had no doubts that this would be a long, slow road for Peter. They had no way of knowing what variety of wolfsbane was used in the fire, and until it got out of their systems, both Kurt and Peter would be healing as if they were human. 

Later that day, Laura came storming into Kurt’s hospital room. Both Hummels looked up, startled. “HOW DARE YOU!” she screamed at Burt. “He’s MY uncle, you’re not even blood! Why do YOU get to make the decisions! YOU’RE NOT A HALE!” Her eyes flashed red. Kurt stood shakily, placing himself between his alpha and his father. Burt tried to reverse their positions, to protect his already injured son. He managed to get the twelve year old behind him just as hospital security rushed in. Laura was still screaming obscenities at them for taking away her uncle. Kurt was shaking behind his father, and until Burt turned around, he assumed it was from fear. No. It was from rage. A security officer stepped over to them as the other two forcibly removed Laura from the room.   
“Are you both alright?” They nodded. “What happened here?”  
“She’s my cousin.” Kurt stated. “Last night…”   
“Two nights ago,” Burt corrected. “There was a fire. She’s a Hale. Kurt’s mom was her aunt. Laura… Laura and her brother weren’t home. Peter, her uncle, was the only one who was inside who survived. Peter’s in a coma, needs a power of attorney to make decisions for him, and Laura’s apparently upset that he has a living will naming me as that power of attorney.”  
The security officer nodded, writing down their statement. “We’re going to remove her from the premises, and make sure she doesn’t return for the rest of the day. Do you want us to keep her out longer?”  
Burt looked down at his son. Kurt shook his head. “She has a right to visit Peter. Can you keep her away from my son, though?”  
The security guard nodded. “We’ll have her monitored.”   
Derek stepped into the room, frowning at the security guard. “Burt? What happened?”  
Kurt scowled at him. “Laura’s pissed that Peter named Dad as his power of attorney.”   
Derek continued frowning. “But…. She hasn’t had a conversation with him in years. Why would that matter?”   
Burt shrugged. “Beats me, kid. How are you holding up?”   
Kurt saw a mask cross Derek’s face, and immediately sniffed. He smelt…. Shame? Guilt? “Derek? What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing,” he lied. “Beyond, you know, everything.”  
Burt frowned. “Derek… are you…”  
Kurt walked over and hugged his older cousin, carefully to avoid hurting his hands. They barely knew each other due to the distance between their parents, but they were really the only family they had now. Apparently, this was the proverbial straw. The stoic sixteen-year-old broke down into tears. Through the sobs, the Hummels could make out that Derek blamed himself for everything, and that he thought “she” loved him.   
“Kiddo, what are you talking about?”  
Derek curled in on himself. “My girlfriend. She... I called her today. I needed to see her, after everything that happened, and she laughed at me. Said that… said that she would be coming for me and Laura next, now that the rest had burned.”   
Burt’s blood ran cold, and he was suddenly reminded of the statement he’d given police – that the only car he’d seen on the road last night was being driven by a woman. “Derek, we need to talk to the police.” 

The next year went by in a blur for the Hummel-Hale household. Burt managed to convince Derek to give a statement to police, which led to an APB for one Katherine Argent, with a long list of aliases. Burt and Kurt had to return to Ohio not long after the fire, due to work and school, but visited Peter as often as they could until he was stable enough for the hospital to allow him to be transferred to Columbus, Ohio. Burt had also, somehow, managed to convince Laura and Derek to move in with them, and to have Derek get his GED while he was there. By the time the anniversary of the fire came, there was a nation-wide manhunt for Katherine Argent, along with her father, who was a suspected accomplice. Kurt’s hands had begun to heal more rapidly after about the first three months; he supposed that was when the last of the wolfsbane was finally purged from his system. He had virtually no scarring by the time the first anniversary arrived.   
Peter’s health was another story entirely. He spent the first month in a medically induced coma; he was given heavy pain killers for another two months after that. He remained in a true coma for some time, registering only a three on the Glasgow Coma Scale. On the anniversary of the fire, he was elevated to a four. He now had minor motor control responses. Shortly thereafter, his eyelids would flutter open with pain, so he was elevated to a five. He stagnated for a year, in part due to the massive infection and rejection of the skin graft they had placed the previous year on his shoulder. Kurt also blamed the sudden lack of progress on Laura’s disappearance. On the night after Derek’s eighteen birthday, the Hales had disappeared from the house. Derek, at least, left a letter. In it, he apologized for leaving so abruptly, but Laura had ordered him. He had no choice.   
Three years after the fire, Peter was elevated out of a true coma and into a vegetative state. He would “wake up” briefly, according to his brain waves, and began to withdraw his limbs from pain stimuli, but wasn’t fully awake for long. The following year showed more slow improvements. Peter’s waking cycles became longer, his eyelids began to flutter on their own, and his muscles twitched during REM cycles occasionally. During Kurt’s junior year, he got an early Christmas present, shortly after he transferred to Dalton. Peter opened his eyes when he came into the room for his visit, and actually smiled at him. Kurt wept. After an exam, the neurologist concluded that Peter was officially out of a vegetative state coma, and now could be classified as being in a minimally conscious state. The doctor’s prognosis was good, to say the least. They predicted that he would be able to be transferred either to an assisted living home, rather than the current nursing facility, or possibly even moved home within the year. It all depended on Peter, now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having issues with formatting - specifically the indent at the beginning of a paragraph. And advice?  
> I have tried to make this as medically and scientifically accurate as one can get in a universe with magic and werewolves, but internet research does not equal a degree in chemistry (although I did minor in it), nor does it give me a medical license. Please let me know if you spot any glaring errors.


End file.
